Now, Lightning's ready to kick foes

STOCKTON - The Lightning is about to learn the answer to a very interesting question.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - The Lightning is about to learn the answer to a very interesting question.

Is it possible that one bizarre 5.1-second sequence could turn around an entire season? The answer will begin to reveal itself when it hosts the Central Valley Coyotes (3-3) at 7 p.m. today at Stockton Arena.

The Lightning plays the Coyotes knowing that if any number of things had gone a little differently during that 5.1-second span five nights ago, its record would not be 2-4 but 1-5, and the playoffs would seem a distant dream rather than a reachable goal.

"I think everyone is a little more upbeat," kicker Alex Walls said when asked about the late stretch the Lightning hopes will change everything.

It was Monday night in Everett, Wash., and the Lightning appeared destined for another close loss. Stockton trailed by two points with 5.1 seconds remaining when Walls lined up for a 57-yard field goal. In arenafootball2, when you line up for a 57-yarder, you are kicking from your own 3-yard line.

"You're sitting there thinking that even a great kicker is not going to be able to (make a 57-yarder) with a great percentage," coach Doug Murray said this week.

Just before the ball was snapped, Everett coach Cedric Walker decided to call a timeout to try to freeze Walls - probably an unnecessary move considering the daunting task the kicker faced, having to kick the ball at a low trajectory to avoid the arena's ceiling and thread it through the narrow uprights, which are 9 feet wide, half the width of the goalposts in the outdoor game.

Walls said he let up a little bit when he saw the timeout called, and when he booted the ball, the kick hit either one of his linemen or was blocked by Everett.

In any event, because the timeout had been called, Murray reconsidered his strategy, decided he wanted to give Walls the chance at a shorter kick, and opted to run one more play even though the Lightning was out of timeouts.

"The only way to stop the clock was to get the ball to the wall (and out of bounds) in less than 5.1 seconds," Murray said.

The call was a quick curl pattern to receiver Kenyatte Morgan, who dutifully told the referee before the play that if he caught the pass from quarterback Evan Gray he planned to get to the wall.

"I wanted to make him aware I was going to get out of bounds after the catch, or else time could have run out," Morgan said.

It was here that the Everett coaching staff gave the Lightning another gift. The Hawks lined up defensively as if the Lightning was going to take one final shot at the end zone.

"They were in the proverbial prevent defense," Murray said. "They had all three defensive backs deep."

And so, Gray dropped back, got good protection from his offensive line, and hit Morgan on a short curl pattern.

With the scoreboard clock directly in front of him, Morgan ran along the wall, picking up 18 valuable yards, with the Everett defenders too deep to stop him.

"Everybody was yelling at him to put it over the wall," Walls said, "but he got a couple more yards."

With 0.4 seconds left, Morgan stuck the ball over the wall, stopping the clock.

Walls then came onto the field and coolly booted the winning 39-yard field goal. It was the same distance as Walls' winner on April 14, when the Coyotes - tonight's opponent - last visited Stockton.

The Lightning followed Walls' first winning field goal with three consecutive losses. They are insistent that this time Walls' winning kick - and that 5.1-second sequence - will turn the season around.

"It lifts us up a little bit," said Morgan, whose stunning 359 total yards in Everett earned him af2's Ironman Award this week.

"We've been so close. We've been in a position to win. A win like that boosts the confidence of the whole team."